Monthly Archives: September 2021

More on UK/US unscripted production partnerships

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

Futher to the recent post about Netflix partnerships with UK PSBs, NBC Universal has also done an unscripted formats deal with the BBC.

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Film & TV industry data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Women more likely to leave the Theatre sector post-pandemic

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

A survey [pdf], earlier this year, by Parents and Carers in the Performing Arts (PIPA) highlights a survey it did of members, which showed that 43% of parents or carers were considering abandoning their career because of the pandemic. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus, Disability equality, Equality, Family rights, Gender equality, Theatre and Live Events data, Wellbeing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

France places new obligations on video-on-demand providers

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

From the European Audiovisual Observatory: “In future, VOD services must devote at least 20% of the turnover they generate in France to the funding of European or French cinematographic and audiovisual production. The proportion is increased to 25% for services … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Philippa Childs to Nadine Dorries: “Challenge bullying and harassment and support freelancers”

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

The Stage[£] has picked up on the Head of Bectu’s letter to incoming Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries. Philippa has outlined what the union believes the priorities should be, specifically… Tackling bullying and harassment in the creative industries. Supporting workers and … Continue reading →

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CIPD calls for ethnicity pay gap reporting

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

From the CIPD website: “The moral case for pay fairness across all ethnic groups is self-evident. Yet, we still await the consultation response to the 2018 UK Government consultation on mandatory ethnicity pay reporting. And, while the 2020 Black Lives … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Race equality | Tagged | Leave a comment

Free database of legal developments in the Europen audiovisual sector

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

This one is probably only useful to massive geeks (hi!) but I’m telling you about it anyway just in case you find it useful. The European Audiovisual Observatory maintains a database of legal developments in all key areas, all key … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Bectu Theatre Freelance Branch push for gender equity

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

Building on a strong piece in The Stage [£] from earlier this year by Catherine Kodicek, she has another article in this week that gives good coverage for the new Bectu Theatre Freelancers Branch talking about gender equity. “BECTU does … Continue reading →

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Costs of streaming services relative to the TV licence fee

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Paul Evans

Tim Davie has been talking to the DCMS select committee yesterday about the licence fee. Some highlights: “Netflix, Spotify, Apple – price rises of 20-30% this year, we have gone up 1% this year.” There’s a useful summary of SVoD … Continue reading →

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Unscripted TV production has too few customers

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Paul Evans

Another very good article from the consistently smart Sarah O’Connor in the FT[£]. There’s little more to add than that Bectu members can substitute ‘broadcast commissioners’ for ‘supermarkets’ and a lot of this will ring true for them. It’s the … Continue reading →

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Racial Diversity Initiatives in UK Film and TV – critical Film and TV Charity report

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

Variety seem to have an exclusive on a Film & TV Charity report[pdf] on Racial Diversity Initiatives in UK Film & TV by Dr Clive Nwonka and Professor Sarita Malik. Here are the top lines from it: “There is a … Continue reading →

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Right to request flexible working to become a ‘day one right’?

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

The BBC are reporting that the right to request flexible working (currently something that employees have a statutory right to request after six months) can be requested on day one – when they start a new job. Employers would also … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment, Employment Law and Rights, Family rights, Productivity | Tagged | Leave a comment

IATSE seek authorisation from members for strike action

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

IATSE to Hold a Strike Authorization Vote Amid Stalled Contract Talks https://t.co/qrimN7HtEa — The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 21, 2021 IATSE is seeking authorisation to take an industrywide strike against film and TV production for the first time in the … Continue reading →

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The Cultural Diversity arguments against Channel Four privatisation

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

The UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity (UKCCD) have published their submission to the consultation on Channel Four privatisation here [pdf]. It makes a key point that should concern Bectu members who are concerned about the quality of the content that … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Netflix cleans up at the Emmy Awards

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

From Variety: “For the first time ever, Netflix won more Emmys than any other platform. It did so while more than doubling the Emmy haul of its nearest competition, which was HBO/HBO Max with 19 total wins.” Full story here. … Continue reading →

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Participatory democracy – how to do it well

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

A freelance union branch has to decide what its policies (e.g. ratecards,  policies on how the industry should be managed and run, etc) and how it is going to implement them (democratic collective action – sticking together on key points … Continue reading →

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TV with an American accent?

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

A strong piece in the FT[£] here from John Gapper, outlining how strong SVoD investment in locally-set programmes may be a mirage – an attempt to build the subscriber base that can subsequently be fed content that is less rooted … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD | Tagged , | Leave a comment

French windows (excuse the pun)

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

There are a few posts up here about how content regulation drives investment into film and TV, how the AVMS Directive is translated into national legislation and regulations, and on the general armoury that national governments have to shape the … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The latest Bond: A big couple of weeks for cinema

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

All eyes that are interested in the whole cinema-to-sofa thing will be watching the box-office performance of the latest Bond installment, No Time to Die, and Sony’s latest comic-book adaptation Venom over the next few weeks. This is not just … Continue reading →

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UK studio expansions – latest: Netflix announces plans for Longcross

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

Another sign of the UK production sector heating up rapidly, Netflix (already projected to spend more than $1bn on across 60 UK productions in 2021 alone) is adding to its UK production capacity with a partnership with Aviva Investors expanding … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Skills & capacity, SVoD, UK studios | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

BBC Chair warns against further cuts

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Paul Evans

From the FT [£], BBC Chair Richard Sharp warned that the licence fee must keep pace with inflation, pointing out that management (currently working towards savings of almost £1bn by next March had gone as far as they could: ““The … Continue reading →

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Long hours working in film and TV – landmark article

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Paul Evans

I’ve just stumbled on a 2012 article by Gavin Polone that I read while writing the Eyes Half Shut report – one that (for reasons that escape me – probably an oversight) I didn’t reference at the time. The Unglamorous, … Continue reading →

Posted in Health & Safety, Long hours, Management, Wellbeing, Work-life balance, Workplace conflict | Tagged , | Leave a comment

talkTV signs Piers Morgan in a new twist to the news impartiality story

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Paul Evans

Following Andrew Neil’s departure from GB News, the old line about how… The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese … may be relevant again. Rupert Murdoch’s News UK group (headed up by Rebekah Brooks) … Continue reading →

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Cruella – shot at 40 London locations

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Paul Evans

There’s a nice post up on the Film London website about the making of Cruella – a film that used lots of London locations: “It was a very location heavy movie. I have done a lot of Disney films and … Continue reading →

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Netflix unscripted modus operandi with UK public service broadcasters

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

More from the Royal Television Society event in Cambridge (via Variety) – something that reinforces two big concerns for us in this area: ever-tightening commissioning budgets that squeeze working conditions in one way or another concerns about where the Intellectual … Continue reading →

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Universal access to Occupational Health?

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

There’s an event, on Tuesday 21st September (2pm), is organised by Glasgow University (with TUC involvement) on the arguments for universal access to Occupational Health (OH) [pdf]. For more info on the event, and to register, visit the website. Occupational … Continue reading →

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13,000 SEISS and CJRS investigations launched (so far)

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

Looking through my back-issues of Farmer’s Weekly, there was a claim that… “…HMRC was allocated £100m of funding in the last Budget for investigations and the recouping of a suspected £3.5bn in fraudulent Covid-19 support scheme claims.” In late June, … Continue reading →

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BBC Three relaunch as a full TV channel provisionally approved by Ofcom – EPG consultation to follow

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

Big news for us today. pic.twitter.com/eQ1xfgkP1T — BBC Three (@bbcthree) September 16, 2021 The channel has had a good run recently with Fleabag and Normal People and in noting Ofcom’s provision approval, the regulator said:

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£1.2m annual Netflix training ‘war chest’ and other scripted TV training developments

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

As referenced in the Guardian article a few days ago, here’s more detail on this Netflix training budget, from Broadcast [£]. Quoting ex-Production Guild chief Alison Small (now working directly for ‘Grow Creative UK’ / Netflix) on training: “If we … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Management, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“Ten Culture Secretaries in ten years. We need a grown-up dialogue with government” – Davie

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

From Tim Davie’s speech at day two of the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge: “We’re on 10 culture secretaries in last 10 years… the key thing I found is we need a really serious, grown-up dialogue with government to … Continue reading →

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Arts, entertainment and recreation 18.8% below its pre-covid levels

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

The ONS monthly estimate for July shows that the UKs Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by only 0.1% in July and is still 2.1% below its pre-pandemic level. Most of the growth was in production output (up 1.2%) while construction … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus, Economics, Employment, Film & TV industry data, Productivity, Theatre and Live Events data | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Lovely Jubbly Telly Rule – and will Channel Four privatisation go ahead?

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Paul Evans

In an interesting twist to the cultural diversity on the screen debate, as UK-commissioned productions sector face a perfect storm that could threaten the UK’s long-established ability to produce TV content, written by UK writers, featuring UK actors and locations, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Regulation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Ampere Analysis – strong case against privatisation of Channel Four

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

A strong thread here from Ampere Analysis, and a detailed report of their findings is here in The Guardian. Ampere has assessed a range of potential options surrounding the privatisation of @Channel4. Here is what we found: — Ampere Analysis … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, Sports rights and broadcasting, SVoD | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Nadine Dorries appointed Culture Secretary

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

I try to avoid contentious or partisan comments on this site, so the only thing I can say is that Nadine Dorries has been appointed as Culture Secretary. This Nadine Dorries… Left wing snowflakes are killing comedy, tearing down historic … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, Politics, Regulation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Inflation – 3.2% in August

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

The increase in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, has reached 3.2% in the year to August. But the ONS says that we shouldn’t read too much into this (very large) jump because… “The increase … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Inflation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Channel Four privatisation: Advertisers voice concerns about damaged competitiveness

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

… particularly if sold to ITV or Sky. The FT [£] reports… “Isba [Incorporated Society of British Advertisers] also said there was a “substantial risk” that Channel 4 programming appealing to a young and diverse audience would be “diluted and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Public Service Broadcasting, Regulation, SVoD, TV Advertising | Tagged , , | Leave a comment